


Nebula

by Ren



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, IN SPACE!, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-16
Updated: 2018-04-16
Packaged: 2019-04-23 21:18:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14341107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ren/pseuds/Ren
Summary: Yuri angles himself so as to have better light from the stars and checks his handiwork one last time before locking the panel back in place. He taps P-0TY4 and the little round droid springs to life, climbing along the side of the ship to screw the outside covering back in place.There's a burst of static before Otabek's voice echoes through his helmet. "Everything is okay over here."Otayuri... IN SPACE!





	Nebula

**Author's Note:**

> My piece for the _Otayuri AU Zine_. I got Sci-Fi!AU and was paired with Arisupaints who drew some gorgeous art of the boys floating in space, which I think you can only see if you got the zine because she hasn't posted it on social media. Which is too bad because did I mention it's gorgeous?
> 
> Anyway here's the story. Beta (as always) by Evy who fixes my tenses so you don't have to suffer while reading.

Yuri angles himself so as to have better light from the stars and checks his handiwork one last time before locking the panel back in place. He taps P-0TY4 and the little round droid springs to life, climbing along the side of the ship to screw the outside covering back in place.

There's a burst of static before Otabek's voice echoes through his helmet. "Everything is okay over here."

Otabek floats up the side of the ship – even though it's difficult to know where _up_ is in the absence of gravity.

Yuri doesn't turn around – the bulky space suit makes it difficult to move – but he glances out of the corner of his eye and gives Otabek a tiny nod. "There was a faulty connection chip, I welded it back into place."

Otabek leans in to look at the repairs. "We should let Captain Nikiforov know."

"Better to inform the engineering crew directly. I doubt Viktor can pry his attention away from his husband long enough to pay attention." Yuri glares at the offending panel as he folds his tools back into their compartments.

"You don't like him very much."

Yuri shakes his head and hands the toolbox to the droid to take inside. "Viktor was stationed in the same garrison where I trained. He's an ass."

They should go and report on the damage – the ship is only a few months into its mission and it's way too early for things to start breaking down, even if it was just one of the hundred thousand chips on the thermal shields. It's not urgent though, and neither of them is in a hurry to leave.

The ship is stationing directly in front of a nebula, a swirling mass of dust and gas that stretches as far as the eye can see and paints everything in tones of gold and pink and purple. Out here, Yuri can truly appreciate how vast outer space is. Sometimes his living quarters are so cramped with all the other ensigns that he forgets they're the only living creatures for several parsecs around.

Otabek has gone silent. The only sound is the whirr of the respirator pumping oxygen into his helmet. They float side by side for several moments, staring at the blinking lights of the nebula.

"He tried to leave me behind." Yuri can't keep the bitterness out of his voice. "When I was little he promised he'd take me with him on his first command, but when he was given this mission he wanted to stop me from applying." He braces himself for Otabek to make excuses, just like the rest of the crew who hero-worship Viktor.

"Is he the reason you wanted to be assigned to this ship?" Otabek asks instead. His expression is unreadable as he stares at a cluster of stars. "Viktor, I mean."

The helmet distorts the sound of Yuri's brittle laughter. Maybe he would have been once, but Yuri isn't thirteen any more. "No. I'm here because of my grandpa." His voice is low enough that he's not sure the mic picked it up. "With my hazard pay, he can afford to live off-world now. The pollution was bad for his lungs. Last time he called he said he was improving – he looked a bit better too."

The admission leaves Yuri feeling wide open. He's been asked the same question over and over during the endless rounds of interviews and exams to select the crew for this mission, and he's got a whole array of variations on the theme of _I want to explore the unknown for the benefit of mankind_. He isn't ashamed of coming from a poor family, not precisely, but his life story is not anyone's business.

Except Otabek. Yuri can trust Otabek to keep it to himself and not judge. They've only been friends for the past few months, but Yuri is already closer to him than to anyone else on the ship – even Mila and Georgi, and he's known them for years. Otabek doesn't try to sympathise with Yuri or tell him he's brave or any of that crap. He just meets Yuri's eyes and nods.

"Why did _you_ join?"

The stars are reflected in Otabek's helmet, painting his face with the hues of a distant galaxy. "My country's deep space program is still in its infancy. It's a huge honour for me to be here – I couldn't let my country and my family down." Otabek tips back his head. "Even if it's tough to leave them behind."

"It is tough." There's a knot in Yuri's throat. "You have sisters, right?"

He nods. "Five sisters: two older and three younger. And a nephew. My eldest sister just had a baby boy."

"That's a big family."

Otabek smiles, his gaze lost somewhere into the distance. It's not difficult to guess what he might be thinking about: that newborn will be a man by the time they return to Earth.

So much will have changed the next time they see their families again. _If_ they return safe and sound. _If_ nothing happens while they're away. Yuri feels a shiver down his spine that has nothing to do with the cold of deep space. He refuses to think of how old Grandpa would be by the end of the mission.

_Get a grip, Plisetsky._ He's never been a crier, not even when he was very little. "It's worth it, though." They've drifted closer while talking. Yuri nudges Otabek's shoulder with his own and stares out at the nebula. "That's the other reason I wanted to be here – to see this with my own eyes."

Momentum makes them collide and the cables tethering them to the ship tangle together. The corner of Otabek's mouth curls into a smile. "It's worth it," he echoes. "There's nothing like this on Earth."

Far off in the distance, several light years away, the nebula sparkles like bright jewels.


End file.
